


Mister Tin Can-san Man

by orphan_account



Series: The Intentions of Rust [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-19 13:23:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1471393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Heroes are born great. As all heroes do, one can never go without a tragic back story. Junpei would rather this particular hero didn't have one, because the happy-go-lucky guy deserved the best the world never offered to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mister Tin Can-san Man

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I may be using the honorifics wrong within the chapters (not the title. never for the title), so inform me if I'm using them wrong.

Let me tell you a tragic story. Well, not so tragic for the main character of interest; he’s an idiot yet always knows how to cheer a person up and should stay the same for his sake and everyone else’s. Yes, he is a very endearing idiot.

Remembering him and his goofy smiles, clear as day, laughing as if there weren’t anything wrong with the world, or with him—

On second thought, the real tragedy lies in the people who have come to know him. Those poor bastards.

No, let me tell you a happy story. It is a story about the loved and equally hated Ironheart, Kiyoshi Teppei. Rest assured, most of the resentful characters have been omitted, except for the interesting ones. That is, the ones who Kiyoshi didn't know hated him. Ironically, they were the ones Kiyoshi tended to give more careful attention to, with his especially dorky catchphrase, “Let’s have some fun!” along with the toothy smile and oblivious attitude toward his enemy’s death glares.

What an endearing idiot, indeed. Hopefully a man (yes, a man) like him lives forever.

 

_**05y: 007d** _

The first, real memory Junpei has of Kiyoshi Teppei is of his humongous, strangely cool hands cradling his smaller, five year old toddler hands. He was in awe the moment he saw Kiyoshi’s tall frame filling the doorway in the foyer and was taken away with the deep rumble of his voice. Kiyoshi immediately became his idol of worship.

“Junpei? Mama has to work, so I’ve ordered a special, expensive ‘big brother’ for you everyday after school.” Mama Hyuuga gestures briskly at the figure towering harmlessly like a bear in the corner of the room. “It’s part of the rare Ironheart series, and it has told me its identification name is Kiyoshi Teppei. So please be nice to Kiyoshi-san, alright?”

“Yes, Mama.” Junpei fidgets nervously. Though he may see ‘Kiyoshi-san’ as cool, he is still a stranger.

“Good boy. I’ll see you tonight, maybe.” The click of Mama’s heels across the tile floor fades away as she hurriedly exits the apartment to catch the train to her next meeting.

Mama leaves him alone with superhero Kiyoshi Teppei. Or maybe Kiyoshi Teppei is really a bad guy? He is like a large bear...but Riko-nee says it was bad to assume everyone is bad. Riko-nee says the bad guys only have weapons, ask if little kids want candy, or say he had little boobies. Junpei doesn’t know what boobies are, though. Koga-kun says they were a type of bird. Mama doesn't like pets in the house, anyway.

If Kiyoshi asks if he had little boobies, Junpei will tell him no. And then Kiyoshi will not be a bad guy and he will show him his good guy toys!

Decided, Junpei takes a step toward Kiyoshi, but stops.

What if Kiyoshi doesn’t like his good guy toys? He won’t play with him because Junpei doesn’t have anything he likes. But he wants Kiyoshi to like him and be his friend. Junpei wants to be his friend. How will he be his friend if Junpei doesn't have anything to share and play with?

His nose feels itchy so he scrubs at it with his arm. Snot smears across his sleeve and his eyes become blurry and he can’t see and it is really hard to breath through his hiccuping.

Riko doesn’t like it when Junpei cries. Good heroes don’t cry. But he can’t stop. _I…_

“...want...fri-...nd.” Junpei crouches down to hide and wipe at his icky, uncool face. “K-Kiyoshi...sorry I’m not cool…”

“Eh…What made you think that, Hyuuga-kun?”

Junpei looks up at the nearness of Kiyoshi’s deep, grown-up voice and the rustling of fabric. It is the first time he heard the tall big brother talk, and he sounds so cool, like a true hero. There is no way he is bad.

Kiyoshi is kneeling in front of him, twice as big as he tries to squish his body to meet Junpei’s level on the floor. Tufts of brown hair and thick eyebrows hover over his warm eyes and a friendly smile like Tora-sensei’s is placed just so. It is a good person’s smile. It draws him close and makes Junpei overcome his fear of answering.

He sniffs, wiping his nose again. “You don’t think I’m cool like you are,” he says.

“Me, cool? You seem way cooler, Hyuuga-kun. Only a real brave person could cry with such…dignity!” Kiyoshi looks surprised, as if he just came up with the word himself. “Yes, that’s the word! Like a h-e-r-o.”

“Does,” Junpei wavers for a second in calling Kiyoshi ‘-nii’, but continues with more courage, “does Kiyoshi-nii like heroes?”

Kiyoshi-nii freezes, and he tilts his head like Riko-nee does when she’s thinking. “Do I?” he asks, eyes faraway.

“Um, I like heroes,” Junpei says, hoping it will help him. “I want to be one when I grow up, like the invincible Commander Effie.”

Kiyoshi-nii nods and grins wide down at him. “Then I guess I like heroes, too. After all, I like Hyuuga-kun, who wants to be a hero someday.”

Junpei’s mouth falls open in surprise. “So…! Does that mean Kiyoshi-nii wants to be friends?” he asks, eagerly leaning forward to grab Kiyoshi-nii’s hands. They dwarf his own, but it is the perks of being a good guy super hero.

“Yep. I’ll be Hyuuga-kun’s friend however long you want me to.” He squeezes his hands gently.

Junpei feels something change in him. It is so warm and makes everything seem brighter and clearer, like when Mama bakes her famous lasagna for dinner on weekends. Junpei is looking forward to being friends with Kiyoshi-nii, who is the nicest, normal super hero he’s ever known.

“Mm! Thank you, Kiyoshi-nii! Let’s go look at my good guy toys in my room, okay?” He tugs on Kiyoshi-nii’s enormous hands with a strength only kids his age had when they were excited and eager to move around. Then he remembers something. “Wait!”

Kiyosh-niii struggles to keep his balance behind Junpei as he comes to a stop. “What is it?”

“I forgot to introduce myself.”

“Introduce?” He mutters, confused.

Junpei releases the tall big brother's hands and steps back a few steps. He sucks in the deepest breath as possible, then—

“Kiyoshi-nii! Hello! My surname is Hyuuga! My first name is Junpei! Nice to meet you!!”

Kiyoshi-nii looks shocked after he’s done, but Junpei is too in his own world to notice and ask what’s wrong. Junpei looks at him with a satisfied nod. It seems to have knocked him back to his senses. Kiyoshi-nii widens his eyes and quickly turns around to hide his face.

“Hey, Kiyoshi-nii? What’s wrong?” Junpei scampers to where Kiyoshi-nii is crouched with his hands over his face.

He peeks behind the spaces in his fingers and glances at him warily. One of those hands move to feel his forehead and smooths over the top of Junpei’s head to ruffle his hair.

“Good. You’re not sick or contagious.” He sounds relieved like Mama is when she gets home from work. “It’s only me that’s weird.”

“I don’t understand.” Junpei is a little mad Kiyoshi-nii’s whole hand can cover his head so easily. “Come on to my room to see my toys! Let’s have some fun.”

Kiyoshi-nii nods and lets his hands drop and faces away to show his back to him. His hands are in a strange position, like he wants to carry something. “Hyuuga-kun, how about I carry you on my back?” he asks over his pink shoulder.

The idea of being carried on that back and being so high up is brilliant. “Yeah!” Junpei exclaims, thoroughly delighted. He scrambles to get on and almost falls in the process of lift off.

“Go!” Junpei directs the friendly giant to the poster-covered door in the hallway.

“Yes, yes,” Kiyoshi-nii says with a laugh. “Hyuuga-kun, can you tell me more about Commander Effie?”

“Um, Commander Effie is the cool guy who is invincible in the show Tals Mei. He goes ‘You cannot not beat me down with my skin of iron and heart of gold!’ and everything goes ‘gwah’ and ‘shwoomp’ after he uses his finishing move!”

“Amazing!”

“Yeah, and then there’s the other underlings who are General Demos of Neon and Captain Nitre of Strayto, Colonel Steel Muscle of Magma, and Strategist Silva of the Arach-knee.”

“Wow, you know such big words, Hyuuga-kun.” They arrive in the comfortable mess of his room and the untouched portion of his bookshelf with the figures on it.

“I’ll point to who they are. Okay this mean looking one is Silva...that one is...and he’s….”

Kiyoshi-nee nods to his every word, paying close attention to his face rather than the toys. Junpei doesn't mind because he can finally talk about his favorite show without someone saying how lame it is or that they’re bored. They spend like that all afternoon, eating and coming up with new games to play and shows to watch.

“Kiyoshi-nii, do you have a mama like I do?” Junpei asks Kiyoshi-nii later in the night, sleepily tugging on his pink shirt before the tall big brother leaves his room.

Kiyoshi-nii turns back and bends down to his eye level beside his bed. “Why do you ask?” he replies with a smile.

Junpei clutches the covers up to his nose. “Um, well,” he takes a shaky breath to keep from stuttering, “usually Mama gives me a hug and a kiss to keep away all the bad guys at night, so…” he trails off, too embarrassed to finish. He hugs his stuffed Commander Effie closer.

“‘So’...?” Kiyoshi-nii tilts his head questioningly.

“D-does your mama do that, too?”

Kiyoshi-nii hesitates so long Junpei thinks he won’t say anything. It makes him wonder if maybe asking the tall big brother a question like that was a bad idea.

Just as Junpei is about to tell him he doesn’t need to answer, he speaks up.

“I guess my mama would pat my head, hug me, and kiss me good night, too.” Kiyoshi-nii scratches the back of his head, all the while looking very sad.

“Eh? What does that mean, ‘I guess’?” Junpei becomes worried. What if Kiyoshi-nii doesn't have a mama?

“I...don’t remember my mama,” Kiyoshi-nii explains. He looks at Junpei and ruffles his hair affectionately. “It’s okay. You don’t have to make such a sad face, Hyuuga-kun.”

“But…” Junpei can’t help but feel sad if he ever forgot Mama.

“Your mama will get home soon,” Kiyoshi-nii assures, his bright smile lighting up the room. “She’ll be in time to kiss you good night.”

Junpei shakes himself out of his sad daze. “I never said that, Kiyoshi-nii! I just wanted to know if you had a charm to make the bad guys go away.” He mutters indignantly as he nestles deeper under the covers.

“Don’t worry. I have these to ward off the bad guys every night.” Kiyoshi-nii pushes up the sleeve of his pink shirt to show off his arm muscles. He knocks against them and they resound with a faint, metallic noise.

“Wow,” Junpei mumbles, awe and sleep slurring his words. “Kiyoshi-nii really is like a hero. Mister Tin Can-san Man…” He knows what he's saying is gibberish, but he absolutely must tell how cool he is before he forgets. He remembers there was once a person in a foreign film on the television like his new big brother. He wants to convey that before he disappears like...

...like who?

Kiyoshi-nii bursts out laughing, calling him back. “You’re so funny, Hyuuga-kun. That would be perfect for my super hero name, ‘Mister Mister Tin Can Man.’”

Junpei can barely keep his eyes open. The tall big brother is a blur of pink and brown and smiles. Faintly, Junpei remembers another man with a smile as big as his. It reminds him of the wish he has said to himself every night since finding out their family had gone down from three to two. He knows, because that day he finally learned his numbers from the teacher. That day, he wanted to show off his worksheet and the star he got awarding how well he did.

“Good night…Papa…”

He hears a sharp intake of breath, feels the touch of something cool on his forehead, and senses the warm murmur of a goodbye and apology before falling asleep to dream of a tin can with stick legs looking for a rusty heart in a maze of browning wheat and metal skyscrapers.

Junpei never did find out where it was hiding. 

**Author's Note:**

> To clear up any misunderstandings, Kiyoshi is not Hyuuga's father. He just mistook Kiyoshi as his...deceased father in his sleepy daze.


End file.
